A former naval starfighter pilot, Maarkean Ocaitchi once fought to protect the Alliance and its principles of freedom and democracy, but his sister's rebellious past forced them both into a life of smuggling. He nevertheless refuses to believe her assertions that the whole system is corrupt...until she is arrested and condemned to death as a traitor. Now, Maarkean must decide where his loyalty lies, and will either spark a rebellion or help crush the spirit of democracy once and for all.

The Pattern Ship: The Pattern Universe, Book 1

Zeke is a homeless guy with an exotic metal plate in his head, living rough in a backstreet. Zirkos is an alien who needs the plate to rebuild his ship's AI. Zirkos should just take the plate and go, but instead finds a way of achieving his own ends without harming Zeke. His actions kickstart a chain of events that will dramatically change the course of Earth's future. The Nubl are an artificial space-faring race with a 'hive' intellect who abhor biological sentience. They will eradicate humanity with extreme prejudice.

Forbidden The Stars: The Interstellar Age Book 1

At the end of the 21st century, a catastrophic accident in the asteroid belt has left two surveyors dead. There is no trace of their young son, Alex Manez, or of the asteroid itself.

On the outer edge of the solar system, the first manned mission to Pluto, led by the youngest female astronaut in NASA history, has led to an historic discovery: there is a marker left there by an alien race for humankind to find. We are not alone!

Earthrise: Her Instruments 1

Reese Eddings has enough to do just keeping her rattletrap merchant vessel, the TMS Earthrise, profitable enough to pay food for herself and her micro-crew. So when a mysterious benefactor from her past shows up demanding she rescue a man from slavers, her first reaction is to say "NO!" And then to remember that she sort of promised to repay the loan. But she doesn't remember signing up to tangle with pirates and slavers over a space elf prince…

Lola McCrary says:"One of the best stories I've listened to this year"

Rebel: Rebel Stars, Book 0

In the early 21st century, an alien attack drove humanity to the brink of extinction. A thousand years after their defeat, the aliens haven't been seen since. Rada Pence has spent the last three years driving carts for an independent mining crew. Most likely, that's how she'll die, too. Then, deep beneath the ice of a Neptune moon, her crew discovers a long-lost ship. If it's from Earth's first space age, it would be worth millions.

The Lost Command: Lost Starship Series, Volume 2

Starship Victory, a faithful alien spacecraft guarding its shattered system for 10,000 years, agreed to come to Earth. Now Captain Maddox and his crew have a new assignment. They must find Professor Ludendorff before the New Men do. The New Men need Ludendorff's help so they can capture the alien starship. Maddox needs the neglected superweapons repaired so he can rescue a Star Watch fleet trapped deep in enemy territory.

Starship Blackbeard

In the aftermath of an interstellar war with an alien race, Captain James Drake is unjustly court martialed and sentenced to hard labor. Now Drake is on the run from Lord Admiral Malthorne, while another pursuer, Drake's old friend, believes the accusations are true, and promises to bring him to justice.

Voidhawk

Too young and naive to care about the tensions between nations, Dexter Silverhawk considered himself the luckiest man alive when he found a derelict voidship hidden amongst some asteroids. Making it void-worthy and finding a crew to sail it seem like minor problems when he ends up in a Federation prison. Rotting in a communal cell, his luck shows a fickle side when a mysterious elven woman is thrust into into his life. Helping her fend off an assault Dexter quickly learns that her mind and her tongue are weapons against which he has little defense.

The Enemy of an Enemy: Lost Tales of Power, Book 1

Vydor was on a fast track to the highest-ranking position in the Imperial Navy’s security forces and was recently assigned to the senior staff of the flagship of the Navy, the Dragon Claw. All he wanted to do his entire life was to serve his god, the Emperor, and given his phenomenal performance during his training in the Naval Academy, it seemed he would be able to do just that.

Annihilation: Love Conquers All

Tag, an exceptional young human living in Central City on the planet Earth, tries to keep his powerful, one-of-a-kind skills undetected by leading an ordinary life and staying under the radar. But one day, on the way home from school, Tag's compassion leads him to make a decision that alters the course of his life - and history.

Fire with Fire: Caine Riordan, Book 1

2105, September: Intelligence Analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth's Moon - a history-making clandestine project - and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Twelve years later, Riordan awakens to a changed world. Humanity has achieved faster-than-light travel and is pioneering nearby star systems. And now, Riordan is compelled to become an inadvertent agent of conspiracy himself. Riordan's mission: travel to a newly settled world and investigate whether a primitive local species was once sentient - enough so to have built a lost civilization.

Lords of Space: Starship Blackbeard, Book 2

Captain James Drake is desperate to clear his name. Pursued relentlessly by the Royal Navy, he takes his loyal crew to attack Admiral Malthorne's estate and seize the evidence that will prove his innocence.

With the Lightnings: RCN Series, Book 1

Daniel Leary is a lieutenant in the Republic of Cinnabar Navy with no money and no prospects since he quarreled with his ruthless, politically powerful father. Adele Mundy is a scholar with no money and no prospects since her family was massacred for conspiring against the Government of Cinnabar. Kostroma is a wealthy planet which depends on diplomacy to stay independent in a galaxy whose two great powers, Cinnabar and the Alliance, battle for supremacy.

Brothers in Valor: Man of War, Book 3

Sometimes Captain Max Robichaux fights by the book - and sometimes he throws the book away. This makes him one of the Union Space Navy's rising stars. It's also what has kept him and his green crew alive...thus far.

Aristeia: A Little Rebellion

Unlike her brother, Saracasi Ocaitchi has always known that her loyalties belong to the ideals of freedom and democracy, not the government of the Alliance, and that protecting those ideals would require a fight. But now that the rebellion she has dreamed about has finally begun, she must come to terms with what that truly means: for herself, for her brother, and for all of the people who will die in the coming war.

Frozen Prospects: The Guadel Chronicles, Book 1

The invitation to join the secretive Guadel should have been the fulfillment of dreams that Va'del didn't even realize he had. But when his sponsors are killed in an ambush a short time later, he finds his probationary status revoked and becomes a pawn between various factions inside the Guadel ruling body.... Jain's never known any life but that of a Guadel in training. She'd thought herself reconciled to the idea of a loveless marriage for the good of her people, but meeting Va'del changes everything.

The Course of Empire

Conquered by the Jao twenty years ago, the Earth is shackled under alien tyranny - and threatened by the even more dangerous Ekhat, one of whose genocidal extermination fleets is coming to the solar system. The only chance for human survival is in the hands of an unusual pair of allies: a young Jao prince, newly arrived to Terra to assume his duties, and a young human woman brought up amongst the Jao occupiers. But, as their tentative alliance takes shape, they are under pressure from all sides.

Vitalis Omnibus

Mysterious blackouts left Kira with precious few memories of events in her life, never mind those worth sharing. Somewhere in those blank spots she acquired skills - skills she was hard pressed to explain. But those skills got her a job as the new navigator for the Rented Mule, a transport ship that plied the Rim Systems at the very edge of human civilization.

The Eden Plague: Plague Wars Series, Book 0

When special operations veteran DJ Markis finds armed invaders in his home and it all goes sideways, he turns to his brothers in arms to fight back. On the run from the shadowy Company, soon he finds himself in a war for possession of a genetic engineering secret that threatens the stability of the world. But who is behind it all - and are they even human?

Trial by Ice: A Star Too Far, Book 1

In the 22nd Century colonies spread out to the stars, hidden by a secretive industrialist. 80 years later the locations are revealed, one at a time, once a year. Midshipman William Grace, sole survivor of the genocide on the colony Farshore, is shipwrecked and stranded with a handful of surviving marines and soldiers. The good news, they're alive. The bad news is that they face the frigid climate, betrayal, a harrowing ocean crossing, terror drones, and a mercenary force intent on holding the planet.

Dark Space: Dark Space, Book 1

Ten years ago the Sythians invaded the galaxy with one goal: to wipe out the human race. Now the survivors are hiding in the last human sector of the galaxy: Dark Space--once a place of exile for criminals, now the last refuge of mankind.

The Legend of the Firewalker, Book 1

A black hooded figure suddenly appeared behind her. She gasped and her brown eyes grew wide. Nathan watched helplessly as a small trickle of blood fell from her mouth. Other hooded figures appeared; their silver swords clutched upright against their chests. Nathan held tight to her lifeless body while trying to fight back the tears that swelled in his eyes. "No," he cried. "No!"

Loose Ends: California Corwin P. I. Mystery Series, Book 1

When a young girl is kidnapped, street-smart but damaged ex-cop California "Cal" Corwin is engaged to find and rescue her before murder raises the stakes. As a straightforward case takes unexpected twists, Cal must quell a growing fear that an anguished mother may never see her child again. With a shadowy crime lord lurking behind every unexpected clue, Cal struggles to tie up loose ends before evil claims its next victim.

Hard Duty: Merkiaari Wars, 1

Humanity's last encounter with aliens saw 16.2 billion people killed in a war with the Merkiaari that had spanned decades. Two hundred years later, the Alliance is cautiously exploring beyond its borders again, but the survey corp is considered a mere gesture by some. General Burgton of the 501st Infantry Regiment believes a lack of expansion is leading the Alliance into stagnation. So when one small ship discovers a new alien race, it should be an easy decision to make contact, but what if the aliens are like the Merkiaari?

Regarding Ducks and Universes

At 11:46:01, California time, on a foggy Monday in January 1986, the universe - suddenly, inexplicably, without warning - bifurcated. Fast-forward to 35 years later: Felix Sayers is a culinary writer living in San Francisco of Universe A who spends his days lunching at Coconut Café and dreaming of a successful career penning Agatha Christie-style mysteries. But everything changes when his Aunt Henrietta dies, leaving Felix a photograph of his father and himself - dated 10 days before Felix was born. It can only mean one thing: Felix has an "alter" in Universe B.

Publisher's Summary

A former naval starfighter pilot, Maarkean Ocaitchi once fought to protect the Alliance and its principles of freedom and democracy, but his sister's rebellious past forced them both into a life of smuggling. He nevertheless refuses to believe her assertions that the whole system is corrupt...until she is arrested and condemned to death as a traitor.

Now, Maarkean must decide where his loyalty lies, and will either spark a rebellion or help crush the spirit of democracy once and for all. The experience will challenge everything he thinks he knows about resistance, loyalty, and friendship.

Written in the spirit of heroic space adventure, Aristeia: Revolutionary Right is the first book in a series by new author Wayne Basta.

Would you consider the audio edition of Aristeia to be better than the print version?

SCI-FI seems to come in three basic kinds. The Classic, mainly fun with ideas and concepts. The MILITARY kind focusing on characters and plot, scope HUGE (fate of the universe). To me, a third kind focuses on characters and plot but the scope is not so huge; easier to identify with as few people are actually world leaders, generals, etc. I like all 3 kinds. But that last kind seems hard to find. Anywaaay, Aristeia is the third kind.

Setting: a sector of maybe 5-10 planet colonies and species. Hyperspace travel between them takes days to months. We learn there was a war, then the Terrans (humans) entered it and they all became part of the Terran Alliance. Claims to be like a individual liberty constitutional republic (well, democracy is incorrectly used, as in the real world). But, well, not so much actually in this sector. Much like being a colony of Brittan a century ago and earlier. Each planet has a Gov appointed, complaints of govt abuse tend to be categorized as subversion or treason.

Plot and characters: A war vet's way younger sister was arrested in a college govt protest. He gets here and they jump bail before still larger charges are assessed. So they live on his ship and are smugglers. The story begins from here. Some other characters try to swipe their ship. The sister and some of the ship thieves end up in prison. Plans for a prison break are brewed, etc. That's in about the first third of the book. Great plot that seems to be building in scope but not too fast.

We get the story from the various characters viewpoint. We get who they are, personality, their thinking, but are not made into a psychoanalyst for them. Also no ism reinforcing junk, no graphic sex. No stupid characters (pet peeve) but diff assessments of the situation that make sense given the character's experience. Some, like Ben Franklin, think Alliance can be persuaded to live up to their creed, others think revolution needed.

Narrator Chris Andrew Ciulla throws off the enjoyment of this book. He'll read a few sentences fine, then suddenly DECIDE that EVERY two or three WORDS in A sentence need to be STRESSED to MAKE the reading MORE DRAMATIC.

Listen to the sample and you'll probably see what I mean. When Ciulla does this, the sentence becomes very difficult to understand. The odd sentence stress destroys the flow and loses the meaning. Instead of staying immersed in the story, Ciulla's narration pulls attention back out.

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